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Depending on the size of your fuel tanks, having a professional clean your tank and dispose of the dirty fuel can cost more than $1,000. But for the careful, competent do-it-yourselfer there is another option. For those sailors whose tanks have reached the contamination point-of-no-return, heres a helpful article on DIY tank cleaning that accompanied our July 2009 test of diesel biocides.

If you have not yet heard the name Nichole Rider, you will. A star athlete in high school and college, Rider was paralyzed in a car accident in 1995. Technically quadriplegic, the 39-year-old sailor has limited motion in her arms and hands and almost no ability to use her legs, but like her friend and sailing mentor, Kerry Gruson, she refuses to let her disability define her. Gruson, a former New York Times reporter, and another disabled sailor, Juan Carlos Gil, first introduced Rider to sailing in 2010. Two years later, Rider has a laser-beam focus on the 2016 Para-Olympics in Brazil.

Vacuum-Flush Toilets

Switching to a vacuum flush system requires some changes in habit. With some systems, it is important to turn off the power to the system at a proper switch or breaker whenever leaving the boat for long periods. If any of the seals in the toilet or hoses should begin to leak, the vacuum pressure would drop and the vacuum generator would turn on automatically, gradually running down the ships batteries.

Users also will have to be more vigilant about what goes into the toilet. Reduced water usage means that the bowl is not rinsed as well. Some owners provide a separate small garbage bin for users to deposit toilet paper in.

Holding the vacuum pressure is critical. Any leak around any hose fitting would compromise the performance of the system. The installation guides suggest having a digital vacuum gauge (available from Sealand) to assure level integrity, and this would be a good addition on any boat planning a cruise of a year or more.

Although the vacuum-pressure reduces water usage, some of the best electric-flush toilets in our tests were also quite miserly with water, and more forgiving with solids. If you host many guests who are unschooled in the ways of the marine toilet, you should also look at other models that have vortex-type water pumps to break and wash out solid waste.

For advice on choosing installing the best marine toilet for your boat, purchase and download Marine Sanitation Systems, Volume 1 - Marine Toilets today!

Its not sailing, but weve got to talk about it because its not fun when it goes wrong. The head. Weve reported on the best hoses, joker valves, toilet paper, and holding tank treatments. Recently readers have asked about cleaners that are safe, and sure enough, over the years weve run into evidence that improper cleaning can do real harm.

Diesel engines have evolved into incredibly reliable power sources. Change the oil, mind the charging system and batteries, and most importantly, always give them clean fuel. First there is diesel bug. Bacteria and fungus (not algae-that is incorrect nomenclature) can infect the tank, feeding on the diesel and producing volumes of tank-, line-, and filter-clogging biomass with the consistency of snot. It can be prevented by the regular use of biocides (see PS August 2013), but…

The storage battery’s chemical reaction is reversible, which means that it can be recharged, and will be continuously, as long as the engine is running and the alternator or generator is functioning properly. Normally, we take these things for granted, and are surprised when they don’t work-a testament to the reliability of the devices.

When a cruising sailor starts thinking about exploring fjords and glaciers, he starts putting a little more thought into his boat’s diesel engine and drivetrain components. High-latitude cruising sailor Andy O’Grady writes about several parts that has served him well in extreme conditions: the Kiwiprop, the Manecraft dripless prop shaft seal, the PRM150 transmission, and the K&N reusable air filter.

SeaLand Technology of Big Prairie, Ohio is not a diversified company. Once part of Mansfield, the largest maker of home toilets, SeaLand was spun...

Ever since we adopted improved fuel management methods, we've enjoyed a decade of no carburetor maintenance-not on the twin 9.9 hp engines that ran our catamaran, not on the dinghy kicker, and not on our trimaran. Not on any of our chainsaw or blower motors. Given the quarterly ritual wed enjoyed before, its been wonderful.

The leading cause of death of metal tanks, on land and at sea, is corrosion. Industry standards for fuel tank farms require internal inspections starting at 15 years, and as a licensed API tank inspector, our Tech Editor Drew Frye knows well why these interior inspections are required.